Main menu

Category Archives: Road trips

This week my husband and I, along with our youngest daughter and our youngest granddaughter, took a final road trip before summer ends and everyone heads back to school. We had seen pictures of this town and it looked interesting, but we were not sure if it would be worth the trip (four hours one way).

It was! If you are looking for something unique, let me recommend a visit to Casey, Illinois.

This small town has the biggest golf tee, the biggest wind chimes, the biggest rocking chair, to name only a few of the “big” items in the town. There are also items that, while not the biggest, are certainly big, like an ear of corn and a bicycle.

All these “big” attractions started when Jim Bolin saw that small towns all over Central Illinois are slowly dying and he came up with the idea to create some offbeat and fun attractions that would entice travelers to make the journey to Casey.

What was really special to me is that all of the big items have a verse from the Bible written on or near it that has something to do with the object. For example, the wind chimes has a fish, the sign of the early Christian church, and the Star of David, which refers to the Jewish religion.

The scripture there is from Romans 1:16 which says

For I was not ashamed of the gospel because it is the power of God that brings salvation, to everyone who believes, first to the Jew, then to the Gentile.

One of my favorites was the big rocking chair. It weighs 46, 200 pounds and took over two years to complete. In order to make it in the Guinness Book of Records, the chair had to actually rock. It took ten of Bolin’s employees to move the chair and get it rocking.

Bolin suggested to the owner of the Yarn Studio that they built giant knitting needles and a crochet hook. After she agreed and the needles and hook came to her store, she had to actually knit something with them in order to be recognized by Guinness. She made a 10 x 10 square with the tools. She said it felt like she was on a rowing machine and was a real workout. Having the big tools in her shop has increased her business. She has added a second room and also added home decor, jewelry and baby items to the inventory she sells. The scripture near the knitting needles is from Psalm 139:13

For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.

My husband and I loved the big shoes.

Tourists toss money in the shoe for luck and it is collected and used to buy food for the local food pantry.

Bolin has opened up his work shop so people can come and watch as they make these big items. We saw a couple that are still in the process of completion – the largest baseball bat and the largest gavel.

Our granddaughter loved the biggest mailbox. It is actually a functioning mailbox. Visitors can drop mail at the top in a tube and it raises the flag on the mailbox while placing the mail in a ground level container where the postal service can pick it up.

My husband and I had fun sitting the giant bird-cage and proclaiming that we are truly “love birds.”

If you are looking for a place to spend a fun day, check out Casey, Illinois. While you are there, check out the candy store and for a great place to eat, visit The Farm Restaurant.